PS-dream/Peter theories

[carolynwhite2]

--- In the_old_crowd at yahoogroups.com, "Catlady (Rita Prince Winston)" 
<catlady at w...> wrote:

Eloise wrote in http://groups.yahoo.com/group/the_
old_crowd/message/3071 :

<< Now this may mean very little in this particular context however it
is interesting that he witnesses the flash of the curse, accompanied a
vision of both Malfoy and Snape. Was Malfoy (sr) there, too,
accompanying his master and later retrieving his wand? >>

CatLady:
Altho' I'm almost always wrong about everything, I've always thought
that PS/Ss dream was a clue that Snape and Lucius were present with LV
at Godric's Hollow. But Pettigrew was there, too, as JKR said
somewhere (I can't find it in Quick Quote Quill) that the way Lord
Voldemort got his wand back was that Pettigrew picked it up from the
wreckage and hid it somewhere and picked it up on his way out of the
country to Albania. I always thought Pettigrew was there because LV
was afraid that Pettigrew was a fake traitor, leading him into a trap,
and he was going to make Pettigrew enter the house in front of him to
make the trap, if there was one, would catch him. But the revelation
that LV really is an excellent Legilimens screwed that -- he could
tell Pettigrew was an honest traitor by looking into Pettigrew's
mind.

Carolyn:
JKR confirmed last summer in an aside to a child at the Edinburgh 
chat, that Pettigrew hid Voldy's wand until it was needed, but she 
didn't say where he picked it up. 

The plain vanilla reading would indicate that Voldy made Pettigrew 
show him the way to GH, with a wand in his back so to speak, right up 
to the front door and inside the house. Flitwick said that 'You-Know-
Who could....never find them, not even if he had his nose pressed 
against their sitting room window!', so Peter would have to take him 
right in, face to face with James and Lily. Having forced Pettigrew 
to do this, we are lead to assume that he picks up the pieces after 
the AK goes wrong. But, as usual, there can be other interpretations. 
For a start, at 12GP we have seen that a secret keeper could reveal 
the whereabouts of a hidden location by means of a written note, so 
Pettigrew didn't actually have to be at GH.

So, psychologically, would Voldy have chosen Pettigrew to accompany 
him?  He certainly likes an audience for his deeds, but would 
pathetic little Wormtail, hopeless at duelling, be enough? Not only 
would he know that Wormtail would be struggling with massive guilt at 
his betrayal and be an unknown quantity if ordered to attack, but 
James and Lily are formidable enough to have defied LV three times so 
far. Surely, LV would have taken along tougher back up?

Like an Aggie-mystery, the group of suspects gets ever smaller as you 
near the end. None of the current bunch of DEs seem to have a clue 
what happened that night, so it has to be either a DE that has 
subsequently died/been soul-sucked (eg Barty Crouch Jr, Regulus), or 
it has to be Snape or Lupin or Sirius. I suppose it could be an 
unconsidered unknown (such as Pa Black etc - originally it was a 
white-gloved Voldy DE called Pyrites, IIRC), but she'd have some 
explaining to do, methinks. So, to review the suspect list:

- Both the dead DEs were very young at the time, not ideal henchmen, 
even if keen to be tested. Very doubtful.

- Sirius. JKR seems determined to protect him in her interviews. 
OTOH, we have further evidence that DD could have visited him any 
time he liked in Azkaban (since DD had no trouble getting to see 
Morfin), and could have found the truth of the so-called muggle 
murders with no trouble at all. But he didn't. Or maybe he did, and 
we'll be getting to see a little bottle of pickled Sirius thoughts in 
the next book. Did he betray Pettigrew to Voldy?

- Lupin. Well, over to Pippin! I've never known her concede a point. 
OTOH, there could also be a reading that he's not intrinsically ESE! 
but perhaps he knew about the switch to Peter via Lily, and was no 
stronger than Peter in standing up to LV's pressure to betray.  
Perhaps he went to GH that night in order to try and warn them of 
what he had done, but only got there in time to hear James dying, 
hence Lupin's odd tone of voice when Harry tells him of his memories 
of that night. He then scarpers in case he's blamed for what has 
happened. It's a classic detective story technique to have the murder 
scene cluttered up with people with multiple motives.

- Snape. Appears to be the more and more obvious choice, whatever 
side he's on. A powerful, ruthless wizard with an apparent deeply-
held grudge against James that Voldy has reason to trust (in as far 
as he trusts anyone) because Snape told him about the first half of 
the prophecy. It would be like Voldy to inform Snape of the mission 
without necessarily telling him where he'd got his information from. 
Whether Snape knew it was Peter depends on whether you've signed up 
to MD or not. Personally I'm with Pip on OSCAR-winner!Snape on the 
evidence so far.

But what of Pettigrew in all this? If we assume that he wasn't part 
of the official seek-and-destroy mission, at the same time it would 
be risky for Voldy to leave him unattended at such a critical 
juncture. His legilimency skills would easily pick up Peter's 
vacillating allegiances, guilt and fear of being found out, but it 
would appeal to LV to demonstrate to Peter his invincible power. I 
think he was ordered to follow, but in rat form and to stay out of 
the action until commanded otherwise. 

And so we have the potential perps assembling from different 
directions, all with different motives and expectations. Bang. Bang. 
Flashes of green light. It all goes horribly wrong, but who sees 
what? 

- Snape potentially sees the whole action, including any special 
spells needed to create the hoxbags, *if* they were cast. He may, or 
may not, have tried to save Lily or Harry by attempting to intercept 
one of the curses, causing it to deflect in some way. Either way, he 
sees LV blasted to smithereens leaving just a heap of robes and his 
wand on the ground. As Harry is apparently safe, his best option is 
to get the hell out and inform DD, in order to maintain his cover. 
This is why Harry has the dream recollection of Snape - he was there.

- Lupin, if guilty, may only have got to the house in time to stumble 
in and see James dead and hear more noise and bangs upstairs. He is 
not strong enough to take on LV and flees. Subsequently, he feels 
safer when he thinks Peter is dead, but after finding he is still 
alive, tries to execute Peter with Sirius to try and prevent his 
betrayal coming out years later.

- Sirius apparently arrives sometime later after all the action. If 
you take a more suspicious view, and believe he betrayed the secret 
swap by telling LV to target Peter, this would fit with his cover 
story although, of course, he would be looking round in disbelief and 
wondering what the hell had gone wrong. Either way, he would not have 
seen any of the spells used, nor would he have seen Snape or Lupin. 
Either way, he has a reason to chase Pettigrew -  to avenge his 
friends or kill a witness.

And Peter? 

Option (1) he was the only betrayer, was the only person with LV as 
right hand man, witnessed it all, picked up robes and wand and 
scarpered, subsequently taking the whole kit to Albania for his 
master. May have seen hoxpox spell go wrong if LV was trying to 
create one on the spot. Question - would Peter know anything about 
that level of deep black magic, and what plot purpose would it 
advance if he did? Maybe he would know where the final bit of V's 
soul was tucked away and this is his final role in helping Harry. 
Problem - we have no evidence that it is necessary to create a 
hoxpocket at the time of a murder; you seem to be able to create them 
later judging by the timing evidence with the Diary and ring.

Option (2) As in the classic detective story, he is crouching in the 
bushes watching a lot of bewildering activity, people coming and 
going, being blown up:

- he sees Snape arrive with LV but not leave (Snape disapparates from 
scene of murder); Peter was not aware that Snape was a DE and stores 
fact away for later; fascinated to see him teaching at Hogwarts; 
thinks he has one over on him when he finds himself in his house in 
HBP, especially when he overhears promise to Narcissa. Like the rest 
of us, he is not sure what side Snape is really on.

- he sees Lupin come and go very briefly; he can see that Lupin 
didn't do the murders, but wonders why he is there and ponders if 
Lupin betrayed his SK status to LV. Reason for him staying hidden and 
frightened at Hogwarts.

Option (3)  ....at some point, he creeps into the house to see what 
has happened. Carnage. Nothing alive but Teflon!Harry chortling in 
his cot, and LVs robes and wand lying on the ground. Mystified, Peter 
reaches to pick up them up, but hears Sirius's motorbike roar 
overhead. Panic-stricken he throws some destructive curses around and 
disapparates with what he is holding and subsequently stuffs the 
evidence away somewhere, prior to the duel with Sirius, whom he also 
suspects of betraying him to Voldy. 

His eventually reason for taking the wand to Albania with him to try 
and find LV is prompted by a visit by DD to Hagrid's hut whilst Peter 
is hiding in the milk jug. Hagrid and DD discuss ways of killing LV 
and DD makes clear that LV has to be brought back to 'human' form for 
this to be achieved.

Like two other conversations in that hut, the people doing the 
talking are perfectly aware they are being overhead, and by whom.

Carolyn
Always fascinated by Peter theories